For the first time in its 31-year history, American Girl, a maker of pricey 18-inch dolls, is introducing a boy. His name: Logan Everett.

With his perfect boy-band brown hair, hipster T-shirt and dark-wash jeans, it’s perhaps no surprise that in the American Girl world, Logan plays the drums in his friend Tenney Grant’s band.

But Logan’s appearance is certainly a change for the brand. The unveiling of Logan on Tuesday comes after nearly a year of rumors that the American Girl franchise was working on a boy doll.

He is the latest push by Mattel, which acquired the Wisconsin-based doll maker for $700 million in 1998, to create more contemporary figures and stories for American Girl, and to further diversify the line of the dolls in hopes of improving sales. Revenue was flat last year, at $570 million, after a long period of growth. Late last year, American Girl named its first limited-edition African American Girl of the Year, Gabriela McBride. Like most American Girl dolls, Gabriela costs $115.

Students: Read the entire article, then tell us:

— Would you have wanted to play with Logan when you were a child? Why or why not?

— Should Mattel offer a complete line of boy dolls in the American Girl collection, each with a backstory tied to a historical period or place, similar to the historical American Girl dolls? Why or why not?

— Does American Girl’s new boy doll fill a need for young children? If so, how? If not, why not?